Amazon is releasing the newest Kindle on May 3, and insists that "customers are going to love it"

Amazon is looking to give potential Kindle buyers all the
more reason to pick up the newest version of the popular e-reader by shaving
$25 off the price, but customers will have to decide if an extra $25 in savings
is worth the on-screen advertisements being featured in the new model.

The
Amazon Kindle is a portable e-book reader that was introduced in 2007. The
introductory price was $399, and asnew
versions were released over the years, the Kindle became slimmer with
a better display, more storage, and lower prices.

Amazon is
releasing the newest Kindle on May 3 and it possesses many of the same features
that the 6-inch Wi-Fi Kindle has, including a 50 percent better contrast with E
Ink Pearl technology, an 8.5 ounce body, a 6-inch display, Wi-Fi, 20 percent
faster page turns and enough storage for 3,500 books. The difference is that
the new Kindle will only be $114, and for the first time ever, the device will
featurespecial
offers and sponsored ads.

The
special offers and sponsored ads will appear at the bottom of the home page and
on its screen savers. Ads can be a major annoyance to consumers, but according
to Kindle Director Jay Marine, a lower price and the addition of advertisements
will be incentives for customers to buy the Kindle over any other competing
e-readers.

Marine
noted that the ads would not appear in Kindle books. Ads can only be found on
the screen saver and home page, and they change frequently. If a user is
interested in an ad, they can click on it to have details e-mailed to
them.

"It
was very important that we didn't interfere with the reading experience,"
said Marine.

the good thing is that a lower price means that more people are going to buy it, and for me as a writer that is great news. i really saw my sales pick up after the christmas season, during which a huge number of kindles was sold. i'm hoping that this new machine will have a similar effect.

however, i'm not a fan of ad-supported content, unless amazon's system will allow smaller publishers or independent authors to advertise in a cost=effective manner as well. if only the major players can afford to do this (or even have access to this feature), then it will screw a lot of us smaller guys out of the market, which will mean that a lot of us will migrate over to other devices (my books are already being distributed to all major e-tailers). so i'm hoping amazon plays its cards right here, and allows everyone easy access to this ad program. if they do, this machine could be a nice addition to the line-up, if they don't, it might seriously harm the independent guys.

Dan Brown writes books, he was chosen for this example by random choice. A current book of his, The Lost Symbol, is currently selling on Amazon in hardcover format for $16.82 and free 2-day shipping with a prime membership ((it quite possibly then also has free super saver shipping as well))

The kindle version of the same book, sold by Amazon, is currently selling for $9.99 with free wireless delivery. This happens to be the exact same price as the mass market paperback version, which also has free shipping.

So tell me, why should i buy digital, if it will cost me the exact same amount as a paperback. Either we're being ripped off for e-books, or the $10 paperbacks that have been sold forever loose money on, you know, printing, distributing, and storing the physical books.

The price of e-books have very little to do with material costs. Especially as there is no material to speak of, just bandwidth. And the marketing expenses that come with working through a big publisher.

So why do they charge $9.99? Because they think you'll pay it for the hot must-read of the moment. But this is changing. Numerous writers are doing very well for themselves self-publishing on Amazon and B&N for much lower prices. Some writers, like Amanda Hocking, are getting wealthy at $.99 to $2.99 prices for their novels.

why are e-books 9.99?because you are being ripped off. i sell mine for 3.99, and i'm 100% sure that i make more profit per book than most people who sell their books through publishers at the 9.99 price point.that excludes famous writers like brown, stephen king, etc as they are able to negotiate better deals.

remember eminem suing apple and his music label because he only made 7 cents off a 99 cent song on itunes? it isn't much different with ebooks i'm afraid; most of the money is split between amazon and the publisher. that is the reason why i have never even tried to get a publishing deal. i don't like being ripped off.